Method and apparatus for handling articles

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for handling elongated agricultural articles (e.g. asparagus tips) and particularly for feeding such articles in single file in a plurality of lanes. The article feeding apparatus incorporates a V-shaped trough feeding a plurality of V-shaped lanes down an incline for controlled feeding of multiple lanes of the orientor devices.

United States Patent Lent 1 Aug. 8, 1972 [54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FORHANDLING ARTICLES [72] inventor: Ralph C. Lent, Lafeyette, Calif.

[73] Assignee: Del Monte Corporation, San Francisco, Calif.

[22] Filed: Feb. 2, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 7,615

[52] US. Cl. ..198/30, 198/31 R, 198/33 AD [51] Int. Cl ..B65g 47/26[58] Field of Search ..198/30, 31 R, 59, 61, 220 B,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,179,230 4/1965 Brown..198/30 3,002,617 10/1961 Fraenkel ..198/220X 2,966,250 12/1960, Roboch..198/30 Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Assistant Examiner-DouglasD. Watts Attorney-Flehr, l-lohbach, Test, Albritton & l-lerbe ABSTRACT Amethod and apparatus for handling elongated agricultural articles (e.g.asparagus tips) and particu-' larly for feeding such articles in singlefile in a plurality of lanes. The article feeding apparatus incorporatesa V-shaped trough feeding a plurality of V-shaped lanes down an inclinefor controlled feeding of multiple lanes of the orientor devices.

9 Clains, 8 Drawing Figures Pmminmc wiz I 3.682.291

suenlur INVENTOR. RALPH C. LENT m a W ATTORNEYS PATENTEUAUB 8 m2 SHEET 2[If 3 INVENTOR. RALPH C.LENT

ATTORNEYS PATENTEDAUB 8 i972 SHEET 3 BF 3 INYENTOR. RALPH- c. LENTATTORNEYS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ARTICLES BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus forhandling elongated articles like asparagus tips. More particularly theinvention relates to methods and apparatus for feeding such articles ina plurality of single file lanes.

In conventional processing methods and apparatus means which will supplythe articles single file in a plurality of parallel lanes. Priorconventional feed devices have not been adequate for this purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS It is an object of the invention toprovide an improved method and apparatus for feeding elongated articlesin a plurality of lanes in single file, having reference particularly tofeeding such articles to orienting apparatus.

Another object is to provide a method and apparatus of the typedescribed in which elongated articles are distributed in single fileorder to a plurality of parallel lanes by a cascading action.

Another object is to provide a method and apparatus of the typedescribed in which the articles are cascaded between V-shaped troughsfor distribution in single file order into a plurality of juxtaposedlanes, and with means provided to collect overflow from the lanes sothat all lanes are properly filled in single file order.

The invention employs a a V-shaped through feeding, by cascading of thearticles, a series of parallel V- shaped lanes, with provision forarticle overflow between the lanes so that optimum distribution andsingulation is provided for all lanes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational viewof an article orienting apparatus such as shown in copending applicationSer. No. 150,442;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial elevational view of the apparatus of flG.I illustrating operation thereof;

FIG. 3 is a schematic elevational view of a modified fonn of theinvention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial elevational view of the invention of FIG.3 illustrating one stage in the operation thereof;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 illustrating a further operatingstage of the modified form;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of an article feeding apparatus incorporatingthe invention;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6;and,

FIG. 8 is an end elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingsand particularly FIG. 1, an article orienting apparatus is illustratedschematically at 10. While orienting apparatus 10 will be explained inrelation to handling elongated agricultural products, such as theexemplary asparagus spears 12, it is understood that it has applicationin handling other elongated products or articles in which the center ofgravity is displaced from the geometric center in a direction away fromthe lighter and toward the heavier end thereof, such as husked corn,carrots,and the like.

Apparatus 10 comprises an in-feed stage 14, orienting stage 16, anddischarge stage 18. In-feed stage 14 is shown as including downwardlyinclined V-shaped troughs 19 positioned to feed a plurality of randomlylengthwise oriented spears 12 of disparate lengths by the completemechanism as illustrated in FIGS. 6-8. The spears are delivered toorienting stage 16 in the direction of their length along a relativelynarrow lane in single file order. Suitable guideway means, not shown,may be provided to constrain the articles for 5 movement along the lane.While the operation of apparatus 10 will be described in relation to aschematic single-laned flow path it is understood that the inventionpreferably employs multiple side-by-side lanes for increased efficiency.

Orientor stage 16 comprises a series of paired large and small rollerunits 20,22,24,26,28,30. The roller units are transversely mounted on asuitable frame, not shown, as a continuation of each lane of the feedunit 14 The roller units are spaced apart along the path of articlemovement to define a series of gaps 32,34,36,38,40 of progressivelyincreasing gap length to handle a full range of article length. Suitabledriving means, not shown, are provided to turn all rollers for conjointclockwise rotation, as viewed in FIG. I, to move the articles along thelaned pathsfor both lengthwise orientation and length grading.

The commonly oriented articles are deposited below on discharge stage18, shown as endless conveyor 42, powered by suitable means to conveythe articles to the left for further processing. The exemplary asparagusspears are delivered by conveyor 42 for discharge onto a suitablecross-conveyor, not shown, for any subsequent trimming and canningoperation. While a single discharge conveyor 42 is illustrated asreceiving the oriented articles from the roller units, it is understoodthat the discharge stage could also comprise a plurality of separateconveyors, not shown, disposed below one or more gaps to receive therespective articles and to convey the same segregated from the remainingarticles. As such, apparatus 10 would thus be adapted to orient and alsosegregate as to length. Thus, one conveyor unit could be disposed belowgap 32 to receive all short spears, a second conveyor unit could bedisposed below gaps 34,36 & 38 to receive all medium length spears, anda third conveyor unit could be disposed below gap 40 to receive all longor oversized spears.

Referring to FIG. 2, details of the construction and operation ofcomponent roller units and gaps are illustrated. The first roller unit20 comprises a relatively large diameter roller 44 axised transverselyof the path of article movement, and a relatively small diameter roller46 axised parallel with roller 44 and positioned downstream thereof withthe upper surfaces of both rollers aligned substantially horizontally.Similarly, roller unit 22 comprises paired large roller 48 and smallroller 50, while roller unit 24 comprises paired large roller 52 andsmall roller 54. The rollers are preferably provided'with a frictionsurface for moving the spears, and are powered by suitable means, notshown, to turn in conjoint rotation clockwise as viewed in FIG. 2 foradvancing spears 12 to the right. The smaller rollers provide a precisefulcrum point for forward tilting of the spears at the proper gap,-whilethe larger rollers provide backward tilting and allow for a greatertolerance of spear curvature, as would exist with green asparagus. Inone embodiment the ratio of larger to smaller roller diameters is 6:1,although this may be varied as, for example, by usinga smaller ratio forhandling articles with less curvature.

Roller units 20,22 are spaced apart along the path of article movementto define a gap 32 providing a predetermined gap length efi'ective todrop out the shortest length spears received from the in-feed stage.Roller units 22 and 24 are spaced apart to define gap 34 of increasedgap length suitable to drop out and orient those spears of the nextlarger length increment. The remaining gaps 36-40 are successivelyincreased for progressively dropping out and orienting spears ofincreasing lengths.

The articles or spears of a given length and having either butt-first,i.e., heavier end foremost, or tipfirst, i.e., lighter end foremost,lengthwise orientation are oriented through a respective gap 32-40corresponding to spear length by either forward or backward tilting bygravital action. All spears tilting through the gaps drop downwardly inbutt-first orientation where they fall onto the upper reach of conveyorbelt 42. Belt 42 collects the oriented spears in common in butt-firstorientation,and directs them to the left as viewed in FIG. 2. The upperreach of belt 42 thus moves in the same directionas the lower margin ofeach large diameter roller 44,48 thereby minimizing the possibility ofany obstruction of the articles between the belt and the rollers.

In operation, of the orienting apparatus orientation of the exemplarybutt-first oriented spear 12 will be explained in relation to gap 32, asillustrated in FIG. 2. This gap orients the shorter spears having alength from the butt end to the center of gravity 56 sufficiently shortto tilt downwardly and clear the gap. These spears of butt-firstorientation are first propelled over the gap by the rollers, and whencenter of gravity 56 clears small roller 46 the spears tilt by gravitalaction with the small roller acting as a fulcrum. The center of gravityto butt end length of this short spear permits it to clear the leadingedge of roller 48 and drop butt-first to the position at 12a. Conveyor42 picks up the spear and moves it to the left in butt-first orientationto the position 12b. The longer butt-first spears will continue over thesucceeding roller pairs until they drop through a sufficiently largegap. 7

The operation of orientor 10 in handling those spears of tip-firstorientation is illustrated in FIG. 2 in relation 7 to gap 34. Anexemplary tip-first spear 57 is illustrated ashaving a center of gravity59 to butt end length sufficient to permit it to bridge and clear gap 32so that roller unit 22 is efi'ective to drive it over gap 34. The centerof gravity to tip end length of this spear first bridges the gap as thetip contacts the leading edge of next roller 52, preventing it fromfalling tip-first through the gap. Both roller units 22 and 24 combineto further drive the spear until its butt end clears small roller 50.The center of gravity to butt end length of 7 defined by small roller46continuously increasesfrom center of gravity 56 as the spear advancesacross the gap. For tip-first oriented spear 57 the fulcrum determinedby large roller 52 tends to decrease .from the spears center of gravityas the spear advances.

Referring to the embodiment of FIG. 3 the orienting apparatusillustrated generally at 58 employs a series of tandem conveyor beltsfor the orientingand grading operations. Apparatus 58 includes orientorstage 62 and discharge stage 64.

A feeder 60 schematically represents the apparatus of FIGS. 6-8 andserves to deliver the articles in a plurality of lanes and in singlefile to the belt conveyor 7 l.

' Orientor stage 62 comprises a series of tandem conveyors7l,72,74,76,78spaced apart along the direction of article movement todefine a series of gaps 80,82,8436 of progressively increasing gaplength for grading and orienting a full range of article lengths. Thegaps both orient and grade those spears having a center of gravity tobutt end length corresponding to respective gap lengths byforwardtilting of butt-first spears and backward tilting of tip-firstspears. TI-Ie conveyor arrangement of orientor 62 results in the gapopening or length being less critical to spear length for an orientingoperation so that fewer gaps are needed to maintain a high orientingefi'rciency as compared to a vibrating type orientor, for example. a

Each conveyor 71-78 comprises an endless belt trained between a largediameter lead pulley and relatively small diameter trailing pulley. InFIG. 4 exemplary conveyor 72 is shown as including large diameter leadpulley 88 and small diameter trailing pulley 90 supporting endless belt92. TI-Ie smaller pulleys provide a precise fulcrum for forward tilting,while the larger lead pulleys allow for a greater tolerance of curved'spears for backward tilting. Suitable driving means, not shown, areprovided to turn all pulleys clockwise as viewed in FIG. 3 for movingspears 68 to the right across successive gaps, with the spears droppingout in butt-first orientation as they reach the gaps.

The first gap is defined by the relatively small diameter trailingpulley 94 of conveyor 71 and lead pulley 88 of conveyor 72. Theremaining gaps are defined between respective trailing and lead pulleysof the conveyors.

Discharge stage 64 comprises a series of collector chutes to receive anddistribute medium spears dropping through the orienting gaps. Adownwardly inclined collector chute 96 is provided below gap 80, chute98 is provided below gap 82, chute 100 is provided below gap 84, andchute 102 is provided below gap 86. An overlength bin 104 or suitableconveyor, not shown, may be provided at the discharge end of conveyorbelt 78 to receive all overlength spears not graded and oriented in thepreceding gaps. The spears advance down to the chutes in butt-firstorientation and are either collected together or segregated as to lengthfor subsequent processing. A cross-transfer conveyor 106, preferably ofthe endless belt type, may be provided at the discharge end of chute 96to receive the shortest spears graded out and separately convey them toa cutting or trimming operation. The spears of medium length gradedthrough gaps 82 and 84 may be collected together and segregated from theother spears by suitable means such as a collector conveyor 108 disposedbelow the discharge ends of chutes 98 and 100. Conveyor 108 in turndischarges onto a cross transfer endless conveyor 110 for delivering themedium length spears to a subsequent operation. A cross transfer endlessconveyor 112 is provided below the discharge end of chute 102 to receivethe long spears graded through gap 86 for delivery to the subsequentoperation. It is also contemplated that one or more collector conveyorsmay be provided for collecting together spears from any number of thechutes, or the graded spears from each chute can be segregated from eachother for separate processing, as desired.

Operation of orientor 58 in handling an exemplary butt-first orientedspear 114 of the shorter length is illustrated in FIG. 4, and theoperation in handling an exemplary tip-first oriented spears 116 of thesame length is illustrated in FIG. 5. Those longer spears of eitherorientation will continue on the conveyors until graded and separated inthe succeeding gaps in a similar manner.

As but-first spear 114 advances along conveyor 71 it will begin to tiltby gravital action as its center of gravity clears the top of roller 94.Since the center of gravity to butt end length of this spear is lessthan gap length 80 it will drop clear of large diameter roller 88, asshown at position 114a. The spear will continue to drop onto chute 96 inthe position 1 14b and slide down this chute onto the transfer conveyor.Those butt-first oriented spears of greater center of gravity to buttend length will bridge the gap and continue on conveyor belt 92 to thenext gap.

The tip-first oriented spear 116 of FIG. 5 advances from the end ofroller 94 across the gap. Since the center of gravity to tip end lengthof this spear is greater than gap length 80 the spear will bridge thegap in the position at 116 above roller 88. As the butt-end of thisspear moves from small diameter roller 94 it will drip to the positionat 1l6b and tilt backward by gravital action since its center of gravityto butt end length is less than gap length 80. Continued tilting of thespear moves it successively to positions 116c and 1 16d where it movesonto chute 96 in butt-first orientation. Those tip-first spears ofgreater length will not tilt backwards sufficiently to drop through thegap and are advanced on belt 92 to the succeeding gaps.

FIG. 6 illustrates generally at 118 the shaker-feeder apparatus formetering articles in a controlled feed for discharge in single file inmultiple lanes to, the orienting and grading apparatus described herein.Shakerfeeder l 18 receives randomly oriented articles, such as theexemplary asparagus spears, and delivers them onto the lanes in singlefile, evenly spaced distribution with a substantially even rate of feed,or singulation, between the lanes to achieve optimum line capacity andincreases overall operating efficiency.

Shaker-feeder 118 comprises a shaped bed member 120, which may be ofsheet-metal construction, having an integral upwardly opening V-shapedin-feed section 122, a pair of downwardly inclined diverging Vshapeddistributor troughs or channels 124,126 and a series of parallelV-shaped feeder lanes 128-138.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, bed member 120 is supported by a frame mountedby suitable means such as resilient mountings 142,144 for vibrating oroscillating motion through eccentric drive means 148.

Each of the feeder lanes 128-138 are formed with an upwardly openingV-shaped cross-sectional configuration effective to catch individualspears cascading down troughs 124,126 and direct them in single fileorder onto the lanes of the orientor. The exemplary feeder lane 136includes an upper or article receiving V-shaped portion on the innerside of trough 126 and a lower downwardly inclined V-shaped dischargingportion 152 disposed on an inclined flat surface of the bed member andterminating the discharge end 70 above a relatively narrow lane 156 ofthe orientor 157. A plurality of openings 158, 160 are provided betweenthe spaced apart lane ends. Overflow spears which cascade down the flatsurface bed member without feeding into any of the lanes fall throughopenings 158, 160 onto a collector chute 161 which directs the overflowonto cross-conveyor belt 162 for collection and subsequent recycling, asdesired. Similarly, the lower ends of distributor troughs, 124,126discharge excess spears onto collector chute 161 and conveyor 162 forrecycling.

Under-length articles and broken short articles drop out at the gapbetween the lane ends 70 and the first roller of orientor 157. The gapcan be adjusted to drop out the minimum size desired. Conveyor 162 takesaway the under-length articles.

In operation, bed member 120 is vibrated through operation of eccentricdrive 148 and spears are loaded on the in-feed trough 122. The vibratingor shaking action causes the spears to progress down the inclineddistributor troughs 124,126 whereby they are caused to engage portionsupper 150 of the parallel V-shaped feeder lanes, with some of the spearsbeing diverted into the lanes. The spears cascade from one lane to thenext until all lanes are filled, with the excess dropping from the lanesonto chute 161 and overflow conveyor 162. Continued shaking of bedmember 120 advances the spears in the individual lanes down the inclineof the bed for discharge in single file order onto the multiple lanes ofan orientor. Overflow spears which advance down the bed between thelanes will fall through the openings 158,160 onto overflow conveyor 162for recycling. Supply an excess of spears in this manner insures thatall lanes are properly filled for maximum operating efficiency. Thisreduces the possibility of gaps occurring in the feeding of articlesonto the lanes of the orientor.

From the foregoing it is apparent that there has been provided a new andimproved method and apparatus for supplying elongated articles in aplurality oflanes in single file order, thus permitting maximumoperating tions, the steps of moving the articles downwardly along atleast one inclined path traversing across the receiving portions of thefeeder lanes thereby filling the receiving portions of the feeder laneswith articles disposed lengthwise of said lanes, the articles beingcaused to cascade down said path from the receiving portionsof onefeeder lane to the receiving portion of the next lane, removing articlesin excess of that I required to fill the feeder lanes, and causing thearticles in the feeder lanes to progress along and be discharged fromthe same into said first named multiple lanes.

2. The method of claim 1, including the steps of collecting together theexcess articles not filling the feeder lanes, segregating the collectedexcess articles from the articles discharged to the multiple lanes, andmoving the segregated articles from the multiple lanes for recycle tosaid path.

3. The method of claim 1, in which the articles are moved along the pathand the feeder lanes by vibration thereof.

4. Apparatus for distributing a plurality of randomly lengthwiseoriented elongated articles into multiple, substantially paralleljuxtaposed lanes, including the combination of an infeed trough toreceive articles to be distributed, a pair of distributor troughsleading from said infeed trough in respective paths diverging apart inthe direction of article movement therethrough, a plurality ofsubstantially parallel trough-like feeder lanes disposed between thepaths of said distributor troughs, each feeder lane having an upperarticle receiving portion disposed in one of said distributor troughsand a lower portion extending downwardly from said one trough to adischarge end, each of said feeder lane discharge ends discharging thearticles into a respective one of said first mentioned multiple lanes,and means to advance the articles from the infeed trough into thedistributor troughs and along the paths of said distributor troughswhereby the articles cascade from one lane receiving portion to the nextto fill the same.

5. Apparatus as in claim 23 in which said means to advance the articlesincludes means to impart vibratory movement to the trough and feederlanes.

6. Apparatus for distributing a plurality of randomly lengthwiseoriented elongated articles into multiple, substantially paralleljuxtaposed lanes, including the combination of a distributor trough forreceiving the randomly oriented articles, the distributor trough beinginclined downwardly in the direction of article movement therethrough, aplurality of substann'ally parallel trough-like feeder lanes each havingan upper article receiving portion disposed in a portion of thedistributor trough and extending across said direction of articlemovement to receive articles aligned lengthwise in the direction ofarticle movement along the feeder lane and a lower portion extendingdownwardly frornthe trough to a discharge end, each of said feeder lanedischarge ends discharging the articles into a respective one of themultiple lanes, and means to impart vibratory movement to said troughand feeder lanes to advance the articles along the length of the troughwhereby the articles cascade from one lane receiving portion to thenexttofillthesarne. f

7. Apparatus for distributing a plurality of randomly lengthwiseoriented elongated articles into multiple, substantially paralleljuxtaposed lanes, including the combination of a distributor trough forreceiving the randomly oriented articles, a plurality of substantiallyparallel trough-like feeder lanes each having an upper article receivingreceiving portion disposed in the distributor trough to receive articlesaligned lengthwise in the direction of article movement along the feederlane and a lower portion extending downwardly from the trough to adischarge end, said distributor troughbeing inclined downwardly forfillingthe upper portions of the feeder lanes and for cascading excessarticles downwardly, each of said feeder lane discharge ends dischargingthe articles into a respective one of the multiple lanes, means tovibrate the trough and feeder lanes toadvance the articles along thelength of the trough whereby the articles cascade from one lanereceiving portion to the next to fill the same, and means collectingexcess articles cascading over the last feeder lane positioneddownstream in the distributor trough.

8. Apparatus for distributing a plurality of randomly lengthwiseoriented elongated articles into multiple, substantially paralleljuxtaposed lanes, including the combination of a distributor trough forreceiving the randomly oriented articles, said distributor troughdefining a substantially V-shaped upwardly opening configuration incross-section and inclined downwardly for moving the articlestherethrough, a plurality of substantially parallel trough-like feederlanes each having an upper article receiving portion-disposed in thedistributor trough and extending transversely across the trough toreceive articles aligned lengthwise in the direction of article movementalongthe feeder lane whereby articles moving down the trough are fedinto certain of the lanes with excess articles cascading to a nextsucceeding lane, the feeder lanes each having a lower portion extendingdownwardly from the trough to a discharge end, each of said feeder lanedischarge ends discharging the articles into a respective one of themultiple lanes, and means to advance the articles along the length ofthe trough whereby the articles cascade from one lane receiving portionto the next to fill the same.

9. Apparatus for distributing a plurality of randomly lengthwiseoriented elongated articles into multiple, substantially paralleljuxtaposed lanes, including the combination of a distributor trough forreceiving the randomly oriented articles, a plurality of substantiallyparallel trough-like feeder lanes each having an upper article receivingportion disposed in the distributor trough to receive articles alignedlengthwise in the direction of article movement along the feeder laneand a lower portion extending downwardly from the trough apart at theirdischarge ends to define overflow openings to receive excess articlesnot filling the feeder lanes, and means conveying the excess articlesmoving through said openings for recycle to the distributor trough.

1. In a method for distributing a plurality of randomly orientedelongated articles in single file order into multiple, substantiallyparallel juxtaposed lanes associated in article receiving relationshipwith a plurality of substantially parallel feeder lanes each havingserially connected article receiving and discharging portions, the stepsof moving the articles downwardly along at least one inclined pathtraversing across the receiving portions of the feeder lanes therebyfilling the receiving portions of the feeder lanes with articlesdisposed lengthwise of said lanes, the articles being caused to cascadedown said path from the receiving portions of one feeder lane to thereceiving portion of the next lane, removing articles in excess of thatrequired to fill the feeder lanes, and causing the articles in thefeeder lanes to progress along and be discharged from the same into saidfirst named multiple lanes.
 2. The method of claim 1, including thesteps of collecting together the excess articles not filling the feederlanes, segregating the collected excess articles from the articlesdischarged to the multiple lanes, and moving the segregated articlesfrom the multiple lanes for recycle to said path.
 3. The method of claim1, in which the articles are moved along the path and the feeder lanesby vibration thereof.
 4. Apparatus for distributing a plurality ofrandomly lengthwise oriented elongated articles into multiple,substantially parallel juxtaposed lanes, including the combination of aninfeed trough to receive articles to be distributed, a pair ofdistributor troughs leading from said infeed trough in respective pathsdiverging apart in the direction of article movement therethrough, aplurality of substantially parallel trough-like feeder lanes disposedbetween the paths of said distributor troughs, each feeder lane havingan upper article receiving portion disposed in one of said distributortroughs and a lower portion extending downwardly from said one trough toa discharge end, each of said feeder lane discharge ends discharging thearticles into a respective one of said first mentioned multiple lanes,and means to advance the articles from the infeed trough into thedistributor troughs and along the paths of said distributor troughswhereby the articles cascade from one lane receiving portion to the nextto fill the same.
 5. Apparatus as in claim 23 in which said means toadvance the articles includes means to impart vibratory movement to thetrough and feeder lanes.
 6. Apparatus for distributing a plurality ofrandomly lengthwise oriented elongated articles into multiple,substantially parallel juxtaposed lanes, including the combination of adistributor trough for receiving the randomly oriented articles, thedistributor trough being inclined downwardly in the direction of articlemovement therethrough, a plurality of substantially pArallel trough-likefeeder lanes each having an upper article receiving portion disposed ina portion of the distributor trough and extending across said directionof article movement to receive articles aligned lengthwise in thedirection of article movement along the feeder lane and a lower portionextending downwardly from the trough to a discharge end, each of saidfeeder lane discharge ends discharging the articles into a respectiveone of the multiple lanes, and means to impart vibratory movement tosaid trough and feeder lanes to advance the articles along the length ofthe trough whereby the articles cascade from one lane receiving portionto the next to fill the same.
 7. Apparatus for distributing a pluralityof randomly lengthwise oriented elongated articles into multiple,substantially parallel juxtaposed lanes, including the combination of adistributor trough for receiving the randomly oriented articles, aplurality of substantially parallel trough-like feeder lanes each havingan upper article receiving receiving portion disposed in the distributortrough to receive articles aligned lengthwise in the direction ofarticle movement along the feeder lane and a lower portion extendingdownwardly from the trough to a discharge end, said distributor troughbeing inclined downwardly for filling the upper portions of the feederlanes and for cascading excess articles downwardly, each of said feederlane discharge ends discharging the articles into a respective one ofthe multiple lanes, means to vibrate the trough and feeder lanes toadvance the articles along the length of the trough whereby the articlescascade from one lane receiving portion to the next to fill the same,and means collecting excess articles cascading over the last feeder lanepositioned downstream in the distributor trough.
 8. Apparatus fordistributing a plurality of randomly lengthwise oriented elongatedarticles into multiple, substantially parallel juxtaposed lanes,including the combination of a distributor trough for receiving therandomly oriented articles, said distributor trough defining asubstantially V-shaped upwardly opening configuration in cross-sectionand inclined downwardly for moving the articles therethrough, aplurality of substantially parallel trough-like feeder lanes each havingan upper article receiving portion disposed in the distributor troughand extending transversely across the trough to receive articles alignedlengthwise in the direction of article movement along the feeder lanewhereby articles moving down the trough are fed into certain of thelanes with excess articles cascading to a next succeeding lane, thefeeder lanes each having a lower portion extending downwardly from thetrough to a discharge end, each of said feeder lane discharge endsdischarging the articles into a respective one of the multiple lanes,and means to advance the articles along the length of the trough wherebythe articles cascade from one lane receiving portion to the next to fillthe same.
 9. Apparatus for distributing a plurality of randomlylengthwise oriented elongated articles into multiple, substantiallyparallel juxtaposed lanes, including the combination of a distributortrough for receiving the randomly oriented articles, a plurality ofsubstantially parallel trough-like feeder lanes each having an upperarticle receiving portion disposed in the distributor trough to receivearticles aligned lengthwise in the direction of article movement alongthe feeder lane and a lower portion extending downwardly from the troughto a discharge end, the discharge end of each feeder lane dischargingthe articles into a respective one of the multiple lanes, means tovibrate the trough and feeder lanes to advance the articles along thelength of the trough whereby the articles cascade from the articlereceiving portion of one lane to the next to fill the same, said feederlane lower portions being spaced apart at their discharge ends to defineoverflow openings to receive excess articles not filling the feederlanes, and means conveying the excess articles moving through saidopenings for recycle to the distributor trough.